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Nature's Home Koi Sale
Find your Dream Koi
Mountain Raised... Decorative and Select Koi for Sale
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nature's home
mountain raised koi
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Hitching a Ride
Feeding Frenzy
Located in Tuckasegee, NC
Contact: 828-293-2239 for pricing on individual Koi
Email: click here to use our form
Little Bit of Koi Farming History
There is a lot of information available on koi farming history and they don’t all agree on when koi were
first farmed. One of the reasons is because there is a problem with translations.
The word koi in Japanese means carp and there are many varieties of carp. Nishikigoi means brocaded
carp and those are the beautiful fish we enjoy today. Magoi is the Japanese word for the common
black carp (Cyprinus carpio) and this is the fish that all Nishikigoi descended from. Goi also
means carp in Japanese but it is only used correctly when tagged onto the end of a word such as
Nishikigoi, Kigoi, Midorigoi, etc. Most everyone involved in this hobby refer to the Nishikigoi
as just Koi. So, when you find information relating to Koi in Japan dating back to 200 BC that is
when the invading Chinese brought the common black carp to Japan. The statement “Contrary to common
belief Koi farming did not originate in Japan” is true if you are referring to the common carp but
not true when referring to Nishikigoi.
Rice farmers of Yamakoshigo, a village in the Niigata prefecture on the northwestern coast of
mainland Japan, started farming carp in the ponds used to irrigate their rice paddies to use as a
protein supplement to their rice diet.
Even though there are some very old paintings showing carp with color mutations such as red fins
it wasn’t until the beginning of the 19th century that rice farmers in the Niigata prefecture began
to collect and farm carp with color mutations of red, white and yellow.
The Japanese use the reign of their emperors when referring to historical events. This is also true
of the development of Nishikigoi.
Bunka and Bunsei Era (1804-1829): During this era the first koi with red were farmed in Japan. At
first, their red markings appeared on their cheeks. White koi were also farmed and crossed with the
koi that had red cheeks. The end result was white koi with red abdomens.
Tenpo Era (1830-1843): Farming efforts continued to strive for change that would make the koi more
appealing to the eye. White Koi with red located on the forehead was referred to as Zukinkaburi. Red
covering the entire head was called Menkaburi, red on the lips only was Kuchibeni (lipstick).
Meija Era (1868-1912): This is the era when the Kohaku were developed thru extensive farming. This
is also the era when carp from Germany were first introduced to Japan and bred with the Nishikigoi.
This is where the Doitsu
(German) varieties come from. There are two types of German carp. One type has no scales and is called
the leather carp and the other has large scales along each side of the dorsal fin and along the
lateral line only (mirror carp).
Taisho Era (1912-1926): This is when the Taisho Sanke was perfected. It is a white koi with a red and
black pattern. Sanke means tri-colored. Sanke may have appeared at the end of the Meija Era. Shiro
Utsuri (black with white markings) was introduced at the end of this era. In 1914 some of the most
beautiful varieties were shown at an exposition in Tokyo where some of these colored carp were
presented to Crown Prince Hirohito. This is where it really got started.
Showa Era (1927-1989): Showa Sanshoku (sanshoku also means tri-colored). This is the last of the
varieties referred to as Gosanke (the big three) which includes the Kohaku, Sanke, and Showa. These
are the three varieties of koi most prized by the Japanese and advanced koi hobbyist all over the
world with the Kohaku being #1. These varieties are the ones that win most of the top prizes in
koi shows.
This period has seen the most advancements in the koi hobby with many new varieties being introduced
and improvements in the first varieties. This is also the era when koi were first introduced to the
United States and Europe. As with anything else koi related you can find information stating
different dates when koi farming first arrived in the US. During my extensive research of koi, I've read
that Nishikigoi first became popular in the United States when introduced to California during the
mid 1960s.
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